The present invention is generally in the field of loading arcs for pickup trucks and more specifically the invention is concerned with a versatile loading arc system.
The term xe2x80x9cloading arcxe2x80x9d as used in the specification is often referred to also as a utility rack, support rack, carrying rack, turnover bars, etc.
Pickup tucks are those vehicles which are formed with a driver/passenger cabin and a cargo bed disposed behind the cabin. Typically these beds are open beds though different arrangements are provided for temporarily or fixedly closing or covering the bed.
It is highly desirable by pickup truck owners to install loading arcs on the bed for effectively and conveniently carrying of cargo, in particular long items such as pipes, sheets of material, ladders, boards of material such as wood, gypsum boards, etc. For that purpose, many trucks are installed with different utility racks for supporting such cargo at an elevated position, so that the cargo may extend forward of the bed if it is longer than the length of the bed. This arrangement is also suitable for carrying such cargo when other equipment is carried on the bed""s floor surface.
The loading arcs serve also as a safety means where they typically extend at least slightly above the height of the cabin thus serving also as a turnover bow for preventing deformation of the cabin in case of turnover of the truck.
Still another aspect of the loading arcs is their eye-pleasing appearance and for that purpose it is well known to provide loading arcs made of polished stainless steel or of profiled material coated with nickel, etc.
At times, when no cargo is being carried, the loading arcs are not necessary and at such circumstances it may be advantageous to have a loading arc system which may be easily dismantled, or a system in which the loading arc comprises a front fixed arc and a rear collapsible or movable arc which may be moved to a forward position adjacent the front arc.
A large variety of loading arcs and different utility racks are known, some of which provide some versatility between a utility position in which the arcs are separated apart from one another, namely, a front arc at a front end of the bed and a rear arc at the rear end of the bed, and a leisure state in which the rear arc is displaced to a collapsed position within the bed, or in which it is completely removed or displaced to a forward position adjacent the front arc. Other arrangements provide a carrying arc system consisting of a plurality of various bars and connecting members which may be assembled in several different positions. However, these arrangements have the disadvantageous of requiring some knowledge or technical sense, the use of work tools and a significant time to change between positions.
The following is a list of prior art which is concerned with carrying arcs for utility trucks:
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,891,262, 4,057,281, 4,138,046, 4,152,020, 4,405,170, 4,565,402, 4,659,131, 4,770,458, 5,431,472, 5,451,083, 5,560,6665, 5,836,635.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a loading arc system for a pickup truck versatile between at least two positions, one of which being a collapsed position in which the rear arc is displaced to a forward position adjacent the front arc, and a second position in which the rear arc is at a rear position at or adjacent a rear end of the pickup truck bed.
According to the present invention there is provided a versatile loading arc system for a pickup tuck in which a front arc is fixedly attached at a front end of the bed and a rear arc is swingably displaceable between a first position in which it is adjacent the front arc and at least one rear position in which it is at or adjacent a rear end of the bed.
According to the present invention there is provided a versatile loading arc system for a pickup trick truck having a bed extending between a front end adjacent the truck""s cabin and a rear end and two side walls, the system comprising a front arc having a top bar extending between two side legs fixed at a front end of the bed; and a rear arc having a top bar extending between two side legs and being swingably supported by two swinging arms each pivotally hinged to sides of the bed at a location intermediate the rear end and the front end of the bed; the rear arc being swingably displaceable between a front position in which it adjoins the front arc, and at least one rear position in which it extends parallel at or adjacent the rear end of the bed.
The arc may extend from the floor of the bed or may extend from side walls of the bed, either directly fixed thereto or articulated to side bars which in turn are attached to the side walls of the bed.
The swinging arms are pivotally hinged at about a mid portion of the bed whereby swinging the rear arc about the swinging arms entails displacement thereof about an arcuate path which essentially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle whereby the swinging arms pivot about an axis essentially parallel to the vehicle""s cabin.
According to one specific embodiment, the swinging arms are telescopically extendable between a retracted position and a protracted position thereby enabling the rear arc to be displaced into more than one rear position. Typically the length of swinging arms is fixable.
By still a particular design of the invention, the bar of the rear arc is pivotally hinged to the swinging arms.